At present there are a number of solutions for the control and monitoring of irrigated areas, the common factor in these solutions being the supply of an automated irrigation system.
For example, the patent document U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,991 relates to an irrigation controller of distributed architecture, comprising a plurality of modules which are connected to the controller, each with a valve and a micro-controller, connected to a processor through a data bus. Such an arrangement of components allows bidirectional sending of messages, wherein each message contains operating instructions that are interpreted by the controllers to perform preset actions in response to such message. In this context, the solution proposed by U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,991 is a control system which is centralized in a single central controller incorporating the ability to control various modules connected to it in a distributed way. Then, although the control offered by the central controller of the document is distributed such control ends centralized in the controller of the invention, this being why the control arrangement and general monitoring of the hydraulic system is centralized, limiting the operation of said hydraulic system to the operation of the central controller. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,991 has the limitation that each module being part of the irrigation system control must be connected directly to the controller this complicates the on-site implementation of the system by requiring that all information reaches the central controller directly.
Moreover, the patent document U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,917 proposes a distributed control network for the management of irrigation operations, wherein said network is comprised of a system incorporating a plurality of irrigation controllers, wherein each controller can transmit, receive and respond to commands initiated or communicated by any other network device, a host computer, a data bus connecting the irrigation controllers with the central computer, and a plurality of sensors and valves connected to the controllers. Additionally, the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,917 proposes the local operation of the controllers, via a user interface or remotely via a wireless connection. In this regard, the relevant document discloses a network of controllers that operates in a distributed way, wherein each controller can operate on its own and wherein the transmission of information from sensors, programs and control functions is also possible to any controller on the network. However, the system disclosed in the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,917 does not consider the communication of controllers each other to respond to the system operation, performing requirements and responses that keep the system in operation according to that desired by a user. Indeed, nothing in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,917 allows anticipating a system that includes a network of nodes interconnected each other and associated with different equipment, sensors, actuators and controllers in the system, wherein such devices interact through the network to meet the requirements of the system components in order to maintain operation under a user-defined standard.
The patent document U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,298 relates to irrigation controllers interconnected in a neural network. Said document provides for the operation of different controllers, hydraulically connected each other by means of a defined hydraulic network, to be determined on the basis of the decisions made by each controller based on the state of operation of said hydraulic system, for example, at the water level of a common source of water and according to the irrigation schedule established in each controller. This type of control allows a dynamic adaptation of the operation of controllers to the network condition, facilitating the automatic control thereof. However, the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,298 does not define that in that communication between controllers, the ability to provide dynamic and active control system may be contemplated, in response to the operational requirements based on changes in state suffered by each component in the network. Indeed, document U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,298 only limits to modify the operation of the system before the detection of changes in state, with the system not being able to respond to those changes in order to bring the operation to a preset scenario, since it does not consider the operating condition of each component independently and, therefore, it does not establish a communication with respect to report on the condition state of each component to the network.
The patent application document US 2004/0100394 refers to a method for providing environmental control and monitoring, including a network of wireless nodes comprising an array of sensing nodes and actuating nodes, wherein each node includes a wireless transceiver, a processor and one of a sensor device or an actuator device. In this regard, the method comprises sending messages from a first node to a second node and the processing of that message in the second node, thus generating a control command to an actuator node based on the message content. In this regard the document US 2004/0100394 allows the control of the nodes network and hydraulic components associated therewith by a message containing information regarding the operation of each node, sending said messages to particular nodes that analyze the information and generate actions based on the same. Thus, document US 2004/0100394 has the disadvantage of limiting the operation of the system to node or nodes receiving the message generated by a particular node, reducing the possibility of responding to that message in full by the whole hydraulic network.
Considering the above, the need for a monitoring and control fully integrated system among the participating components and the communication network becomes evident, so that to allow managing the operation of the system, but also ensuring that the operation of each component thereof will remain within the conditions preset by a user. In addition, it is required that the management system comprises components to communicate each other hydraulically or through a data network, through which sensors, actuators and controllers define the operating conditions and determine the actions necessary to respond to said operating conditions, without limiting the action of the system or the responses the same can give to equipment previously defined, i.e. allowing said system to determine which equipment is to be acted in response to the relevant requirement.
Finally, the document US 2014/0371928 defines a wireless system for monitoring the environmental, soil or weather conditions and/or for controlling the irrigation and/or weather control in a farming site or property, including associated methods. The system and method defined in said document comprise a network of hydraulic components, a network of nodes in communication with sensors, actuators and controllers, wherein said controllers are arranged in such a way to receive, transmit and process information, wherein part of said information comprises on/off state conditions. In this context, the document US 2014/0371928 defines states of simple equipment and sets a communication architecture tor measurements, wherein the state of each equipment is sent to the network and stored, so that to compare the states by system, without directly affecting the states of other related equipment and belonging to the hydraulic network. Therefore, the communication of states proposed by the prior art mentioned only allows—in addition to simple states—comparisons at the level of system control in order to manage the network acting without directly intervening in the control, logics at the level of the hydraulic network.